


second chances

by starkly



Series: you don't have to do this alone [10]
Category: Marvel (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Earth-57289 (Marvel), F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-17
Updated: 2018-01-17
Packaged: 2019-03-05 20:55:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13396068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starkly/pseuds/starkly
Summary: Tony will forever be grateful to Dr. James Rhodes. When Stark Industries had collapsed and Tony was in dire straights, Rhodes had picked him up and offered him everything he needed to get his life together. Rhodes didn’t care that his recklessness and alcoholism had tanked an entire company. Rhodes thought he was smart and driven and worth something, and gave him a second chance. So yeah, Tony admires him just for that, and that alone would be enough to satisfy any normal person.But not Tony. No, Tony had to go and develop a crush on his boss.





	second chances

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for NaNoWriMo 2017 and posted at [dailyironfamily](http://dailyironfamily.tumblr.com/post/167363918965/day-10-role-reversal) on tumblr. This fic was proofread before being posted here but is otherwise unchanged.
> 
> Day ten: role reversal. And I thought what better opportunity to write something for Earth-57289, that ‘verse that only exists in [one panel](http://dailyironfamily.tumblr.com/post/150932132621/mockingbirdie-everyone-please-provide-cutesy). But what a good panel it is. Pepper/Rhodey established with future Pepper/Tony/Rhodey. (Minor content warning for reference to alcoholism, but no drinking occurs in the fic.)

Tony will forever be grateful to Dr. James Rhodes. When Stark Industries had collapsed and Tony was in dire straights, Rhodes had picked him up and offered him everything he needed to get his life together. Rhodes didn’t care that his recklessness and alcoholism had tanked an entire company. Rhodes thought he was smart and driven and worth something, and gave him a second chance. So yeah, Tony admires him just for that, and that alone would be enough to satisfy any normal person.

But not Tony. No, Tony had to go and develop a crush on his boss.

It seems completely obvious from an objective standpoint―Rhodes is passionate, considerate, clever, handsome, the list goes on and on. Who wouldn’t like someone like that?

Unfortunately, Rhodes’s girlfriend is likely in total agreement with him.

She’s no slouch either, and Tony finds it hard to be jealous. Pepper Potts is a famous attorney who specializes in superhero cases, does a ton of charity work, and still finds time to help at Rhodes Labs International. Tony watches her and Rhodes when she comes into the office; the two make quite a pair, and Tony contents himself with just watching. He knows he doesn’t compare, and even if he could, he wouldn’t want to wreck a long-running relationship just to satisfy his own dumb crush.

Which is when everything gets shaken up in the weirdest way possible.

“You wanted to see me, Dr. Rhodes?” Tony asks as he enters the robotics lab, the room strangely empty save for him and Rhodes and…Ms. Potts?

“I’ve told you before, Tony, Jim is fine.” Rhodes―Jim―smiles at him.

Flustered, Tony answers, “Of course, Dr. Jim. Uh, Jim. Just Jim.”

“Pepper was asking me about the project you’re working on,” Jim goes on, thankfully ignoring his embarrassing babbling. “How far along would you say you are?”

“The exoskeleton? We’re in the final testing phase already.” He turns to direct his question to Pepper herself. “Why do you ask?”

Pepper doesn’t even hesitate as she answers. “I’m looking to put someone in that suit as my bodyguard.” That by itself is enough of a shock, but apparently he hasn’t heard anything yet, because she continues,

“I’d like it to be you.”

“W-what?”

“Jim speaks very highly of you,” Pepper says. “You’re the lead on the project and know the most about it. The Iron Man is your brainchild.”

He flushes slightly at the name. It had started as a stupid placeholder at the beginning of the project and had never been changed―the thing wasn’t even made of iron. But coming out of her mouth it sounds almost regal.

“What do you need a bodyguard in a military grade exoskeleton for?” he asks, bewildered.

“It’s confidential. Let’s just say I’ve taken some high profile cases lately and the risks are higher than usual.”

Tony frowns, wondering what kind of danger she’s in that she’d resort to asking  _him_  to pilot an experimental armor. Supervillain attack level of danger? Could he even handle something like that?

“Pepper asked my recommendations for pilots,” Jim tells him. “After me, which she isn’t keen on for some reason, I think you would be best.”

He should stop and think about this. He’s the last person anyone should be asking to be a bodyguard, especially one flying around in a big metal suit. He’s proven himself a liability. Unstable. He’s just an engineer. Nothing special.

He says yes.

* * *

They keep his identity a secret, which was one of Tony’s stipulations when he agreed to help. The last thing Pepper and Rhodes Labs need is the news getting out that ex-CEO Tony Stark is the one piloting the Iron Man. (He’d suggested renaming it before the announcement, but Pepper had insisted Iron Man remain. Tony supposes it does have a nice ring to it.)

For the most part, it’s just a lot of standing around looking intimidating, which is pretty easy. He only shows up for high profile events or important court cases, though sometimes Pepper coaxes him into coming along to a party or charity event. He has her phone number now, and same with Rhodes’s, which is weird but a little exciting. He could text Jim if he wanted to, but he never does. It seems too forward.

Then Jim texts him first.

_You busy tonight?_

Tony stares at the message, unsure how to answer. Should he play it casual? Or is this some work thing? Finally, he just texts back,

_Not really. What’s up?_

Jim’s answer is almost instantaneous.

_Pepper’s trying her hand at cooking at home for once. Come over?_

Tony’s never been to Jim’s house in a non-professional capacity before. He answers just as quickly,

_Sure. Time?_

Jim texts him the details, and then Tony spends the rest of the afternoon agonizing over what this means. They’re probably just being friendly. After all, he sees Jim at work almost every day, and Pepper he sees at least once a week, either as Iron Man or when she visits the lab. Maybe they want to try some team bonding thing.

Jim’s house is fancy, inside and out. There’s a lot of art that Tony discovered was mostly Pepper’s doing, but Jim has a guitar collection that he and Tony had spent a whole afternoon messing around with one time he visited. Tony’s pretty sure that was the best afternoon of his life so far.

Tonight he’s just nervous, dressed up in his nicest suit and carrying a bottle of wine and bouquet of flowers as he shows up at their door. Overkill? Probably. But better than arriving empty-handed. Jim greets him at the door, takes the wine from him, but he makes Tony hand the flowers to Pepper himself, leading him into the kitchen where she’s putting the finishing touches on dinner.

“Oh, they’re lovely, Tony,” she says, sniffing at them while Jim gets a vase and fills it with water. Tony’s glad he splurged on an expensive bouquet. “Have a seat, dinner will be ready in a few minutes.”

The kitchen table’s already set, so he sits down and watches Pepper and Jim gather the last of the dinner supplies, turning off stove tops and ovens and bringing over platters and bowls. Tony tries to get up to help, but Pepper pushes him back into his chair.

“Everything looks amazing, Ms. Potts. Pepper,” he corrects quickly, because both of them prefer him using their first names in private.

“I’ll confess, Jim helped a lot. But thank you,” she says, smiling. She picks up the bottle of wine he’d brought with him, holding it out to pour. “Wine?”

“Tony doesn’t drink,” Jim says, and Pepper and Tony both look at him in surprise.

“Oh, I’m sorry. We’ll just save this for later,” she says, getting up and putting it on the counter instead. Tony’s still slightly stunned Jim had remembered, and that they’d forgo drinking with dinner just for him.

Pepper’s already changing the subject when she returns, encouraging them to start plating the food, and she asks Tony what he’s working on at work. It’s…nice. Normal. Tony keeps waiting for the other shoe to drop (what if they’re just being nice because they’re firing him as Iron Man? What if Pepper found out about his crush on her boyfriend?) but it never comes. They have a completely casual dinner and by the time Jim pulls out a chocolate torte for dessert, Tony has to admit that nothing bad is going to happen. He really is just this lucky.

When the meal comes to an end, Tony doesn’t want to go. He’s got no excuse to linger, but he clings to what he can while Pepper and Jim continue to chat over empty dessert plates. It’s not until Pepper sees that it’s already ten thirty p.m. that they stop, Pepper apologizing for holding him here so long.

“It’s no problem at all, seriously,” he tells them, standing up, and he tries to take the dishes to the sink, but Jim won’t let him, grabbing them all himself. He waits until Jim’s done before he adds,

“Thank you for the meal. And the company. I really appreciate it.”

Pepper and Jim both smile at him, and Tony feels something hot clench in his stomach.

“It was our pleasure, really,” Pepper replies, walking with him to the door. Jim trails behind them, hands in his pockets as he ambles along. “We’ll have to do this again sometime.”

The hot clench in Tony’s stomach flip flops at the thought of getting to do this again, and against his better judgment he says, “I’d love that.”

* * *

The next time he sees Pepper it’s a disaster. She’s inspecting an abandoned warehouse involved in a negligence lawsuit she’s currently working on; Iron Man tags along, not expecting any danger. Afterwards, he’s not entirely sure what happened, but he still blames himself for not paying close enough attention.

An explosion rocks through the building before either of them know what’s happening. The suit pinpoints the origin of the explosion, somewhere in the basement, strong enough to shake the entire building on its foundations. He dives for Pepper as the ceiling starts to collapse, and she shrieks as he wraps his arms around her and immediately gets gets knocked on the back of the helmet by a giant chunk of concrete.

He stumbles, dazed, Pepper still half in his arms. Her eyes are wide and she’s yelling something, but he can’t make it out, it sounds like she’s a mile away. Shit, something wrong with the suit? Whatever the problem is, it can wait. He needs to get Pepper out of here before the rest of the building collapses.

Scooping her up in his arms, he kicks on the boot repulsors and aims for the hole in the ceiling, dodging pieces of debris. By the time he lands a safe distance away and sets her down, the warehouse is on fire, the ground underneath it collapsing.

“Call 911,” he says, but he’s not sure she even heard him before he passes out.

* * *

He wakes to the sound of beeping hospital monitors, and his head is killing him. Something rustles to his right, and he blinks, trying to focus.

“Potts. Pepper Potts. Is she okay?” he rasps out, needing to know.

“She’s fine,” someone answers, but he thinks that’s her own voice.

Forcing his eyes open the rest of the way, he turns his head to look, and sure enough, Pepper’s sitting in a chair at his bedside, looking worried. Jim stands beside her, a hand resting against her back.

“Welcome back, man,” Jim says, trying for a smile, but it’s strained.

“What happened?” he asks. The warehouse…there’s no way that explosion was an accident.

“It was a bomb,” Jim says, confirming his suspicions. “There’s some suspects, but we can talk about that later. How are you feeling?”

“Like I got hit in the head,” Tony says dryly. “We’ve got to go over the specs of that helmet again.”

“Later,” Jim says again, and Pepper reaches for Tony’s hand, lying limp on the bed. She squeezes gently, voice sincere as she says,

“Thank you.”

“Not gonna lie, I’d thought you needing a bodyguard was kind of bullshit,” Tony mumbles, but he manages to squeeze her hand in return. “But clearly I was wrong.”

“Thank goodness for that.” She doesn’t let go of his hand, and Tony glances up at Jim, but he doesn’t seem to even notice.

“Still, I understand if you want to replace me,” he continues, glancing back down at their clasped hands. “Get someone who’s properly trained.”

“What?” Pepper looks shocked at the idea, and Jim shakes his head. “You saved me, Tony. You were amazing.”

“I got hit on the head and fainted. Not exactly heroic.”

Jim leans in, puts a gentle hand on Tony’s shoulder. Tony’s breath catches in his throat. “You’re both alive because of you. That sounds heroic to me.”

“There is one thing we wanted to ask, before you continued as Iron Man,” Pepper adds. “If you want to continue.”

“I do,” Tony says without hesitation. Despite what happened, he can’t imagine not being the one to be there for them, watching over them. He just can’t believe they’ll still have him after this.

Jim finally draws his hand back from Tony’s shoulder, and Pepper takes it in her other hand, the one not holding on to Tony’s. “Have dinner with us. As a date.”

Time stops for a moment, Tony’s pretty sure. That or he’s gone back into shock from his head injury.

Jim seems to take his silence as a bad sign, because he quickly says, “It’s inappropriate, isn’t it? I told you, Pepper, we’re both technically his boss, it’s weird.”

Tony scrambles to interrupt, not wanting Jim to think that’s true at all. “No, no! Uh, you just surprised me, is all. Um.” He glances between them, tempted to ask if this is some sort of test or trick. “Seriously?”

Pepper nods. “Very seriously.”

“And if you say no you can still be Iron Man,” Jim hurries to assure him, “so don’t think your answer determines whether you’ve still got a job or not―”

“I’d love to go to dinner,” Tony interrupts again, surprised yet slightly endeared. He’s never seen cool, calm Dr. Rhodes so flustered before. He kind of likes it. “A date dinner. And to keep being Iron Man. If you’ll have me.”

“We’d be happy to have you,” Pepper says, all smiles, and squeezes his hand even tighter. Tony smiles back, and Jim laughs, a pleasant, hearty sound that makes Tony feel like everything’s going to be okay.

Like Tony said before. He’d forever be grateful to Dr. James Rhodes, and Pepper Potts, for giving him a chance.


End file.
